First Look: Unofficial Sneak Peak at Destination Q in Chicago
Armed with my digital camera and a paparazzi attitude, I headed out to snag some shots of the Motorola Q centric store located at 666 N Michigan Ave. Titled Destination Q, the store front had a very neo modern feel about it, nestled in a white marble façade, with a distinct mixture of high technology and a divine looking photo of a woman floating in the clouds, presenting the Q itself, hovering above her out- reached hand. The front door was covered with a frosted coating to keep out prying eyes, with a repeated phrase running across the middle of the glass stating “Let There Be Q”. Given the marbled store front, mystical looking woman, and the 666 number of the address itself, I have to say that the whole thing had a very “Da Vinci Code” like look about it, and the symbolism did not go unnoticed. Motorola must have high confidence in this new product offering’s ability to revolutionize the mobile communications market, much in same the way the Razr did, but obviously at a whole other level.
In front of the store I happened to notice a bus stop advertisement for the Q. This ad struck out at me mainly because what had initially appeared as a replica photo of the large poster of the woman with a floating Q on the front of the store was actually a 3D shadow box with an actual display model floating in her hand, accompanied by several more at the bottom of the box.
From there I decided to walk around the block to examine for potential access points to the back of the store, or maybe just a peek of some display items being hauled in from the street, but alas, found nothing of note. I did realize one possible security hole in the window dressing of the store front though, which my camera would be much better at circumventing than my own eyes. The cloud background window screening was apparently meant to be a more permanent part of the finished store, and thus had small holes with which to let light into the interior. I was able to get a few photos of the inside of the store, which was clearly unfinished, and seemed to be bustling with activity in preparation for a June 8 opening.
As you can see from the shots, there is still some work to be done. There are a few interesting items to note. A large flat screen appears to have an Xbox 360 setup, as evidenced by the console box on the pedestal below the screen. It is also possible to see some of the interior styling, which appears to be very similar to the minimalist white that is used extensively at the Apple Store right across the street. There is a stair case at the side of the main room which leads to one of possibly two additional upper levels. From the paper towels and hefty sacks lying on the counters, it is obvious that the store is the final stages of preparation. It seems clear from the relatively small size of the main room that the store is in fact dedicated exclusively to the Q, and seems as though it will be geared more towards that of a consumer experience, rather than a place to buy Motorola products. I would even suspect that you might not be able to pick up the phone for use, since the Verizon exclusivity will ultimately run out when the Q is eventually released with GSM capability.
